Winter time in the 10k Islands…..

November 19, 2012 - Posted by Steve Dall It is now "winter" here in SW Florida which means a seasonal transition for our fishing. At this time of the year, the redfish will slow down a bit, but are still available. Our tides are generally lower in the winter, so the copper pennies with generally be just on the outside of the shorelines and oyster bars and often will be in very skinny water. This opens up great sightfishing opportunies, but stealth is key and use caution when navigating. This time of year is also a great time to learn the water. Viewing your favorite spots at low or at a negative tide, can create a real life topographical map for you and you can understand how fish set up relating to the structure on higher tides. As for the balance of fishing, recent days have shown us tons of small to mid-size snook, black drum are starting to show up and the trout are everywhere. This time of year the pilchards are hard to come by, if at all, so shrimp tipped jigs worked super slow will catch the most fish. Yesterday alone, we caught 11 diiferent species! Redfish, Snook, Snapper, Spotted Sea Trout, Silver Trout, Grouper, Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, Puffer Fish, Catfish and Black Drum....we even jumped a 40-50 lb tarpon, but she came unbuttoned. The time now is for variety and bent rods!